Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay unveils the quirky stories of how people and nature together have shaped the San Francisco Bay Area over the last 6,000 years. The first major exhibition to be presented with all three of OMCA’s transformed galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences open to the public, the exhibition highlights historic and contemporary place-based stories about the Bay, and engages viewers in discussions about the Bay’s future. Through an extensive use of media featuring oral histories, community voices, and interactives, the exhibition explores how human engineering and natural forces have come together over time to shape and reshape the land and water around the San Francisco Bay, and how sea-level rise, wetlands restoration, invasive species, and climate change are central topics in determining the future of the Bay.

Above and Below Events

It's all about the Bay at OMCA, with events throughout the run of the exhibition. A robust schedule of programs and events related to the exhibition Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay is taking place throughout the fall, and there's something for everyone, including:

Join OMCA at the Lafayette Library to discuss the Museum's newest exhibition

Supporters

Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay is supported by the California Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Bay Area Toll Authority and the California Transportation Commission to complete the seismic safety project on the historic San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The exhibition and related oral histories, school curriculum, and on-line resources help satisfy mitigation obligations required to comply with state and federal environmental laws.

The exhibition also received generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board.

Media Partners:

Above and Below: Stories from Our Changing Bay was produced by the Oakland Museum of California in partnership with the San Francisco Estuary Institute.

Above and Below: Stories from Our Changing Bay is supported by the California Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Bay Area Toll Authority and the California Transportation Commission to complete the seismic safety project on the historic San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The exhibition and related oral histories, school curriculum, and on-line resources help satisfy mitigation obligations required to comply with state and federal environmental laws.

The exhibition also received generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, Barclay and Sharon Simpson, and Stephen and Susan Chamberlin.

The Oakland Museum of California would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their contributions to the development and production of this exhibition.

Above and Below: A Geolocated Guide to the Bay takes the exhibition outside the museum walls, deploying narratives throughout the Bay Area, which you can access on a mobile device from the exact spot where the stories and events took place. The Geolocated Guide to the Bay builds digital layers of information that add meaning to places we otherwise pass through without notice. It can be accessed on two different mobile platforms, Field Trip and Findery.

Themes to explore in the Guide:

FOOD: The narratives in the Food section explore current and past nodes within the Bay Area food system. From early agricultural acreage on what now borders the Oakland Airport, to the once-thriving wild salmon populations of the north bay, to the first ice cream sandwich, this region has been shaped by the food we grow, import, and manufacture.Explore on Findery | Download Field Trip to receive notifications when near each location

UNDERGROUND: Some of the most interesting aspects of Bay Area culture are hidden from view. The Underground section pulls buried and banished stories back into our awareness, from Silicon Valley toxic plumes to the Mission's lost creeks, adding subterranean layers — and digital details — to the knowledge we can gather just by looking. Explore on Findery | Download Field Trip to receive notifications when near each location

FROM THIS SPOT: So many books, movies, and other bits of artistic expression have been situated in the Bay. In From This Spot, each point was chosen based on a scene or image from a creative work, enabling viewers to experience a location through a literary or artistic lens. Excerpts from Tom Wolfe's A Man in Full and clips from Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp provide a new context for looking at ordinary places around the Bay.Explore on Findery | Download Field Trip to receive notifications when near each location

Two ways to access the Guide:

Field Trip is a mobile app guide to unique and hidden things around you. When you get close to something interesting, Field Trip will notify you with information and media about that exact location. Field Trip is available for iOS, Android and Google Glass.More about Field Trip

Findery is a virtual map environment that provides a space to tease out local knowledge, hidden secrets, stories and information about the world around you. Locations are tagged with stories, images, comments and followers. Start exploring at: findery.com/OaklandMuseumCA

About the authors:

Resident Imprints, co-founded by Alexis C. Madrigal and Sarah C. Rich, creates digital publications designed to reveal the stories and histories embedded in public space.